The many beautiful, historic venues in Chicago provide endless inspiration for our work and today we are examining the history of one of our venue partners – the stunning and storied Stan Mansion in Logan Square. It took over a century for this Masonic Lodge to become the unique wedding venue that it is today – this is a brief look back at that journey.

Facing the historic Logan Square boulevard, the mansion is a part of the 2 1/2 miles of the Logan Square Historic District, an area that has remained virtually unchanged for 100 years. The homes that line the boulevards were never converted into rooming houses or low rent apartments like other parts of the City and have retained most of their beautiful woodwork, stained glass windows and original charm.

The building was built in 1921 during the area’s greatest years. Just a few years earlier, in 1918, Illinois celebrated its centennial. That year, a classical columnar monument topped with an eagle was commissioned. Logan Square, being one of the most influential neighborhoods in the state, was selected as the site for this memorial – this landmark is now the symbol of the neighborhood and is just steps away from the venue.

What’s most impressing is that the grandiose building was built in just six months. Built to house a chapter of the Knights Templar, the building remained a masonic lodge for a majority of it’s years until the neighborhood saw a decline. Years later, Cera Stan and her husband bought the building and from then on Cera took on the maintenance and restoration of the building, including a recent and complete refresh in 2012 that finally returned the building to it’s original splendor.

In the few years since opening it’s doors, the Stan Mansion has become a highly successful and popular wedding and event venue, where the historic elegance, the large capacity and many options for customizing events have drawn couples and corporate clients of every kind. You can see some of these events in this blog and in the venue page – leave your thoughts in the comments below.

A brochure from 1928, featuring the building and the venue today. Historic photos courtesy of Stan Mansion. Venue photo by Adrian Nastase.